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“There are DACA students who have reverted back to only leaving the house when they have to. Family plans are back in place. And younger, documented students are having fears of being separated from their families.”

“As white people, our actions and beliefs have tangible impact on the movement for educational equity, and we must assess our own behaviors and hold ourselves accountable to ensuring our most vulnerable students receive the education they deserve.”

The biannual Policy Advisor Fellowship deepens LEE members' knowledge of local, state, and national policy by serving as a part-time policy advisor to a senior LEE member serving in a high-impact leadership role.

"People most directly impacted by educational inequity need to collectively work together to design and implement policy strategies and campaigns that can elevate the support of our most vulnerable communities."

"My theory of change relies heavily on the idea that my perspective — the perspective of a black, first-generation college graduate, and elected official — has been under-represented in the rooms where policy decisions are made."

I believe that we can assure every child has access to quality educational opportunities in their own neighborhood by adopting equitable policies that bridge the opportunity gap of our diverse student populations.

An APIA elected official asked the room full of participants if they had ever envisioned an Asian-American president before, and no one raised their hands despite everyone in the room being APIA themselves.

I fight for educational equity because I believe that black boys born in Alabama deserve a high quality education. They shouldn’t be hindered because they were born in the wrong zip code or because they have black skin.

Every day, students who identify as Asian & Pacific Islander American (APIA) face the injustice of educational inequity in classrooms across the nation. APIA voices are too often silenced or disregarded because of the "model minority" myth and the idea that educational equity is a "black-and-white" issue.

When I truly reflected on those teachers, I realized that although I was helped, the majority of my classmates were left behind. This realization lit a fire in me to be a teacher like those I had, but to be that for all students.

An intensive six-month program that builds leadership skills through individualized coaching, consulting and exclusive trainings, the Venture Fund & Fellowship is helping LEE members like Yannell take their civic ventures to the next level — and giving them a chance at up to $100,000 in funding.

As the youngest-ever chair of the Board of Education for the school system where he was once both a student and a teacher, stories of students and the relationships Courtney has with teachers, parents, and community members show up in every policy decision he makes.

Jim Shelton — president of education at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, founding executive director of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative, and former deputy secretary of education for the U.S. Department of Education — talks with us about everything from who’s getting it right in education to how he plans his days.

NOW is a weekend-long skill-building workshop offered regularly throughout the year for LEE members interested in using the power of organizing to change and advance policies, work with decision-makers, and put in place more systems that positively impact students.

Ryan Smith, executive director of The Education Trust-West, joins LEE for the launch of The Leaders' Table podcast. Ryan riffs with Jason Llorenz on advocacy in a very big state, shares advice for future executive directors, and talks about what it takes to make policy with communities, not for them.

LEE member Aura Cely (TFA San Antonio ’14) is a connector — of people, of resources, of ideas. She believes in the power of organizing to bridge gaps and bring neighbors together, and in making distinct resources to work in tandem and make an even greater impact.

Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, leadership development organization working to end the injustice of educational inequity by inspiring and supporting a diverse set of leaders with classroom experience to engage civically and politically in their communities.

Leadership for Educational Equity uses think-cell—an Office add-in which integrates seamlessly with PowerPoint and helps you to visualize complex charts like Marimekko, Gantt and waterfall within minutes. think-cell also enables users to maintain a presentation's structure with auto-updating agendas, and consistently round numbers in Excel sheets. It is used by all major consulting firms on a daily basis. Free licenses of think-cell are available for LEE staff members. Refer to the online documentation, screen-casts and knowledge base to get started with think-cell.